Attached property of ex-babu verified as his by home department

MUMBAI: The property verification of former deputy collector Nitesh Thakur for the purpose of his UAE citizenship was cleared by the home department at Mantralaya despite his properties having been attached, it has surfaced. Thakur was recently arrested in the UAE, where he had fled to escape the ED and the ACB cases of money laundering and disproportionate assets against him.The two agencies had attached his properties.
Last week Union minister of state for finance Shiv Pratap Shukla confirmed in the Rajya Sabha the detention of Thakur by the UAE authorities on an Interpol red-corner notice. An examination of Thakur's UAE residentship document shows that he, while seeking UAE residentship in 2015, had submitted a deed of agreement of the Thakur family trust wherein he showed that he was one of the trustees of various properties in the city even though these properties were attached by the ED and the ACB.
Thakur acquired a citizenship visa (temporary residentship) in the UAE, which is valid till June this year. To get temporary residentship in the UAE a person has to prove that his property documents have been attested by the local authorities back home and that these are to be sold and investments made in the UAE. Mantralaya officials said the desk that attests such documents simply verifies the authenticity of the documents and does not look at any criminal records. "There is a list of documents that are required for giving attestation and once that requirement is met the sanctioning authority stamps the papers," an official said.
Thakur has been accused of amassing more than Rs 200 crore when he was deputy collector, with allegation of his having taken kickbacks from builders.
In 2015 the ACB arrested him in a disproportionate assets case of over Rs118.3 crore and 26 properties in Mumbai and other parts of the state. During investigation, the ACB also discovered Thakur had received Rs17 crore from Dubai.
The ED then registered its own case. It alleged that Thakur had made overseas transactions to launder some of the money he had made through corrupt practices.
( Inputs by Bhavika Jain)